Shakugan no Shana III Ep 4: Mental Breakdown

I don’t think I can put this into words well enough, but this was one of the most emotionally powerful episodes in Shana yet.

Summary

Yuuji confronts Shana, Margery and Wilhelmina on the top of the bridge in Misaki City, and quickly reveals his true form as the host for the Snake of the Festival. After assuring the three Flame Haze and their contractors that he is in fact Sakai Yuuji, he wards off Wilhelmina and Margery by capturing them in a huge silver sphere, while using information about the Silver to mentally destroy Margery, leaving her helpless. With him and Shana alone, Yuuji quickly beats her and flies to the Haridan to collect it, straightforwardly rejecting Kazumi in the process and leaving her broken.

Impression

When the episode starts with the coolest Fuzetsu ever seen, you already know that the next 24mins will be THE MOST BADASS OF YOUR ENTIRE WEEK. UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY THAT IS. OR SATURDAY.

I felt so sorry for Margery the entire time =( I knew she would be traumatised to some extent when the Silver’s flames appeared around her, but to the point that her contract with Marcosius would start to fade? And as painful as it was to watch, I think all that screaming was justified – every single thing she’s worked for thus far, and sacrificed to get to where she is today was made useless in one moment, when Yuuji tells her that her Silver manifestation and havoc caused was because of HER hate, and so indirectly, SHE caused it. Come on Yuuji, you trained with this crazy drunk lady once, no need to mentally break her down to that extent. I don’t think she’ll be fighting for some time, but she has to come back! I’m missing her nursery rhymes already xD

On the other hand, trying not to be biased here people Kazumi got what she asked for, and that was a rejection. In the anime world today, where thick male protagonists surrounded by a harem are clueless, we finally have one that clearly states his intentions, more probably than not fuelled by Sairei no Hebi, since Yuuji himself had no idea both Shana and Kazumi liked him for the past two seasons. Obviously, that breaks down Kazumi as well, though at least she’s not a screamer. We had another shock face though.

Maybe she might even commit suicide and use that Hougu Pheles gave her, though that’s really unlikely since good characters always recover from miraculous wounds, and almost never get killed off.

Or in Yuuji’s case, they get reborn in an even stronger state, and he’s gone from normal boy to the most powerful character in the series by far, Aizen-style. He even has that deep voice to go with it – heck, even his hair has this strange whipping power. With his Blutsauger and anti-flame ring (both ironically given to him by the Flame Haze) he makes quick work of everyone and flies off in the sunset with Shana in his arms. Awwww. Actually, Shana didn’t seem to be struggling that much, I’m sure a part of her wanted to be kidnapped xD

It seems that while Yuuji is mostly in control of his own body , the Sairei no Hebi will chip in from time to time if need be, whether it’s assuring Alastor that it’s really him or terrifying Eita even more than he already is. Of course, this brings up more questions about his true motives, while I’m sure taking the Haridan and coining it (literally) like something out of Super Smash Bros Brawl was an idea of the Snake of the Festivals, is Shana’s kidnapping what Yuuji wants or what the Tomogara wants?

So now everything back in Misaki City is in a complete mess, they’ve lost two of their Flame Haze and the Haridan, and it looks like Wilhelmina has to call on her Outlaw friends to save the day, get Shana back and beat Bal Masque, because in the end the good guys always win, right? …Except in this show, where the plot bunnies over at the studio bring about crazy epic twists that always leave you looking forward to next week. I think I can almost forgive you for all your past failures J.C. Staff, because this ep was nothing short of fantastic.